Chapter Two: Peter:

Location: London, England

Diary Entry: Peter

Day One

If you had told me that I would go from throwing out pissed tossers starting fights in the pub one night to aiding people in a sand-covered London the next day, I would think that you had gone mental. Well, that’s what happened. I didn’t understand it. It was bad enough that I got called out for work on my night off. And then all of this happens… Yeah.

Patrolling the streets seemed out of place this morning. Welcome to Downtown London, there is nobody here. I mean, literally, I am the only person walking around. I didn’t get scared of much, but the silence was so creepy. I half-expected zombies to pop out from around the corner or something. I froze and looked behind me.

Compared to this, last night wasn’t so annoying. I just wanted to send New Year’s Eve at home with ale in front of the telly. But no! The chief called me in because David called in sick. I didn’t want to go, but no one else was available. Now… Yeah.

To be honest, breaking up drunken fights would be easier than dealing with this. At least I would be dealing with people. I couldn’t even contact anybody. The radio in the car doesn’t work. Phone lines were down. In fact, everything that used electricity didn’t work. This wasn’t how I envisioned that Y2K bug going down. Nobody mentioned that sand as part of the equation.

With no way of calling headquarters or anyone else, I did the only thing I could think of—walk back headquarters. Yes, I said that right. My car wouldn’t start. It was working last night just like our mobiles and tech stuff. I put in the key and the damn car wouldn’t even start. After about ten minutes of cussing and fighting with the car, I gave up and decided to go for a walk. It didn’t help that the police station was so far away. Cars had taken away that length of time. How long would it take me to get back?

As I walked down the sandy streets of London, I started to see a little life around me. Most of the poor tossers were just as confused as I was. Some were trying in vain to call somebody on their phones and pagers. Small children wandered around looking for food or their family. I resisted the urge to go over and help them. What could I do? I didn’t even know what I was going to do myself. Sorry, mates. You’re on your own for now. I had to stop and kick sand out of my shoe. Where the hell did all of this sand come from?

It took me about three hours to get back to headquarters. My feet were sore and my socks had holes in the bottom. I had hoped to sit down at my desk and rest for a long time. However, I found more people camped out at the front doors. I dropped my shoulders as I figured out what these people wanted. Still, my police instinct kicked in at the worst time possible.

“What seems to be the problem?” I asked. The people in front of the doors looked up when I spoke. I had to cover my ears when they all started talking at once.

“Stop! Stop!” I shouted. “One at a time!” We couldn’t hear each other over the chatter. I had to whistle to get them to shut up. For some reason, I didn’t know how to stop from there. I folded my arms across my chest.

“Okay,” I said. “I know we are all in the same boat. I may not be enough, but I am here to listen to all of your problems. However, I am only one person and I can only help everyone one at a time. Do not talk over each other, push, or fight each other. Are we clear?” I didn’t wait for a reply as I breathed out.

“Right,” I said. “Everyone follow me inside.” I pushed opened the glass doors. We all kicked in sand as I led them into the police station. As I predicted, I was the only bobby in sight to help these poor lost bastards. Why did I say all of that? I didn’t know how to help myself. Were there any supplies in the police station? If so, would there be enough to care for everyone in the group? It wasn’t like I could call the chief or anything. Was he even alive? What about my mates? Were they still alive? I had to put my brave face back on as the glass doors closed behind the last person.

Suddenly, I almost wished that I was breaking up drunken fights outside of the pub.